


Underwater

by Tytansgo



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: AU, M/M, Mystery, Underwater
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 09:33:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17281538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tytansgo/pseuds/Tytansgo
Summary: That compass should have remained underwater.





	Underwater

A simple compass. A simple unassuming compass was all it should have been. It wasn’t ornate, in fact it was rusted and dirty. It barely had any shine left to it at all. The small piece of metal was covered in tiny barnacles, showing just how old it had to have been. Or at least, how long it had been left underwater. 

Underwater. That’s where it should have stayed. Now here it was, clutched in Hyunwoo’s hand as he spun it, trying to find anything that would tell him where it had originated. Nothing. There was nothing that could give him any hints. At least, that’s what he thought. It wasn’t until Hyunwoo had returned home and the compass had fallen out of his pocket that he found something special about it.

It wasn’t engraved or anything, not even decoratively. But locked inside of it was a small piece of paper. It had been destroyed by the salt water that had snuck in through the cracks. When Hyunwoo picked it up, he was afraid the fragile item would completely disintegrate in his hand, but that didn’t happen. Not at all. The paper stayed intact. What looked to be writing of some kind stained the page. It was smudged and smeared, just one more thing the sea had managed to ruin about this compass. 

“What are you trying to tell me?” He whispered to himself as he twisted and turned the paper in his hand. He wanted so desperately to try and read the letter, but the writing was strange even without being smudged. Letting out a frustrated sigh he set the compass and the paper down on his kitchen table. This was a mystery for another day.

That night Hyunwoo’s dreams were filled with crashing waves, and deep blue ocean. He could not see anything aside from little bubbles that floated from his mouth when he tried to breathe. In his dream, while he could not breathe underwater, it seemed as if that fact didn’t matter. He was not desperate to take in any breaths, and it was like he body didn’t even need to. 

The next morning he awoke feeling as if his entire body was being weighed down by the weight of the ocean. He felt like he was being crushed as pounds of water tried to suffocate him. He was startled to feel that he could still breathe. Taking in giant gulps of air he tore his blankets off his body, crawling out of bed. 

What did that dream even mean? Why did it feel so real? Once again all he was left with were more questions. Hyunwoo finally began to breathe normally, though his body was still trembling. He ran a shaky hand through his dark locks, making his way to his bathroom. He had a life to return to, and it was time to forget about that compass.

\--. .. ...- . / -- . / -.-- --- ..- .-. / -... .-. . .- - ....

Weeks passed and Hyunwoo thought nothing of the silly little compass that had washed it’s way onto the beach and into his life. That was until his friend had asked for help at the local library. Changkyun was doing research on an artifact he had found at the museum. Something that had peaked his interest about this small harbor town that they lived in.

“Hyunwoo, did you know that back in the early 1900’s the mayor’s son tried to escape from this town?” The younger male asked, flipping through some of the books he had been buried in. Hyunwoo snorted in interest, sitting down across from the brunette.

“That doesn’t surprise me, this place is small. Don’t most people dream of leaving small towns to go find bigger dreams in bigger cities?” He asked, grabbing one of the smaller books his friend had pushed in front of him.

“Well yes, but, that’s not why I’m looking into this. At the museum in town hall they have this letter that the mayor wrote to his son after finding out he disappeared. It’s one of the saddest things I’ve ever read.” 

“What did it even say?” Hyunwoo asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“It said something along the lines of ‘My dearest son, I know I fought you and refused to let you love that man, but now that you have left my side I regret that fight. I just wish for you to come home.’” Changkyun said, his voice changing to sound more like an old man when trying to recollect just what that letter had said. After clearing his throat the boy continued. “Anyways, there’s a lot more to the story. Like obviously the mayor’s son is gay, and fell in love with someone in town. No one remembers who he was and so far in my research I can’t find anything about him at all. He’s a mystery.”

“So is that why you’re looking into this? You just want to find the mayor’s son’s gay lover?” Hyunwoo mocked, laughing softly.

“Honestly Hyunwoo, do you really think I’d be doing this if that was my only goal? No, the reason why I’m looking more into this is because when the son left he took one of the harbor boats. Kihyun had no idea how to captain a boat so the town’s people all went out to search for him. They couldn’t find anything and all assumed maybe he actually figured it out and escaped. BUT! A month later the boat he used to escape returned to shore. It looked like it hadn’t been out sailing at all and Kihyun wasn’t on board. No one knows what happened to him. The mayor died of worry and grief for his son, and the town forgot about Kihyun.” the younger boy finished, pulling another book in front of him.

“It sounds like you already know everything there is to know about the story, why are you doing any more research on it?” Hyunwoo asked, flipping through the pages.

“Because, I want to find out just what happened to Kihyun. People think he died at sea and that his ghost is doomed to forever be lost in the ocean, and others think his ghost is haunting the boat. Which is why it’s still here in town.” Changkyun explained.

It was at that very moment that Hyunwoo found it. He paused in his page turning, his eyes locking in on a small drawing. A drawing of a simple unassuming compass. 

“Changkyun, what is this?” He asked, pushing the book in front of his friend, pointing to the drawing.

“Oh that? It’s a compass Kihyun carried with him everywhere. They think his lover gave it to him. He took it with him when he ran away.” 

Hyunwoo stood up from his spot at the table, grabbing his things. “Changkyun, you need to come with me.” He spoke quickly, ushering his friend up and out of the library.

 

.... . .-.. .--. / -- . / --- ..- -

 

That compass. That was the compass Hyunwoo had found on the beach. He just knew it. He dragged his friend all the way back to his apartment to look at the small thing. Changkyun audibly gasped at the sight, picking up the old metal carefully in his hands. How had his friend even come across this item? It was still covered in barnacles, obviously Hyunwoo hadn’t bothered to even try to clean it up.

“Where did you find this?” It was Changkyun’s turn for questions.

“It was on the beach. I found it while going on one of my runs. More like tripped over it but still.” He shrugged. “It’s Kihyun’s compass isn’t it?” He asked, sitting down at his dining table. His friend nodded, setting it down carefully.

“This is amazing Hyunwoo. You have to turn this into the museum! They’d all go crazy over it!” Changkyun said excitedly. Maybe he was right, but something, something was telling Hyunwoo that he couldn’t part with the small compass. Just the thought of handing it over to someone else made his stomach twist into knots.

None of it made sense, he wasn’t attached to the metal contraption in any way, in fact he had practically forgotten about it over the last few days; but he just couldn’t part with it. After ushering his friend out of his house with apologies of feeling tired and needing rest he made his way back over to his dining room table. The small letter that he had found rolled up in the compass had dried out by now. Though he still couldn’t make out what it said, it was so smudged and the words didn’t seem to make any sense when he tried to read it.

“This boy really didn’t know how to write..” he mumbled to himself, trying once again to make sense of the smudged words.

That night Hyunwoo fell asleep on his couch, his computer in his lap, opened to a bunch of different translation websites. He was getting desperate, obsessed even, about finding out the message. 

Ever since finding the compass his dreams were always the same. He was underwater, he couldn’t breathe, but it also didn’t matter. Recently however, a small ball of blue light seemed to appear in front of him. He wasn’t scared of the light, in fact the light felt warm and welcoming. Much like an old friend.

Tonight once again he had been swallowed by the ocean waves, but this time instead of a blue light a man dressed in a white button up and simple trousers was in it’s place. The man had an ethereal glow about him, he was absolutely gorgeous. His features were sharp but held no menace, and Hyunwoo couldn’t help but feel as if he knew this beautiful being.

He tried reaching out, tried to talk to him, but words failed him, and the waves washed his sounds away. The male floated to him, wrapping his arms around Hyunwoo’s broad shoulders, pulling him in close. Without words he pressed his lips to the bigger male’s. Hyunwoo’s eyes widened as he felt the man’s cold lips against his, but once again they felt familiar. As if long ago he knew their touch quite well.

That morning Hyunwoo awoke on the beach, his body soaked as if he had been swimming. 

 

.. .----. -- / .- .-.. .-.. / .- .-.. --- -. . / -.-. --- .-.. -..

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a one shot creepy halloween thing and then Monsta X had a comback and Underwater is the best song on that album and gave me far too many damn feels and then 14U had a comeback and Compass gave me even more feels and now here we are. I think there will only be one more chapter after this as I never intended this to be that long but who knows. Sometimes writing gets away from me.


End file.
